News

Read about the important science being undertaken at NIWA, and how it affects New Zealanders.

NIWA successes: record return and reinvestment in science

13 October 1999

NIWA (the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research) today reported a record consolidated net profit of $7.037 million in the year to June 30, an increase of 33 percent over the previous year, while making significant investments in the atmospheric and aquatic sciences.

Long-term increase in summer UV radiation

10 September 1999

Do you have the impression that you get sunburnt more easily in recent summers? If so, you are probably right. A study by NIWA scientists, which appears in the 10 September issue of the international magazine Science, demonstrates that long-term increases in peak summertime UV radiation have occurred in recent years as a result of ozone depletion.

NIWA scientist wins WMO award for ozone research

2 September 1999

Dr Greg Bodeker of NIWA Lauder, Central Otago, is one of two recipients this year of the United Nations World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) international "Research Award for Young Scientists".

NIWA's new national climate centre to be community focused

8 July 1999

Interaction between the National Climate Centre and communities around the country will be a feature of NIWA’s new climate monitoring and prediction service launched today.

NIWA unveils hazard prediction initiative

24 June 1999

Plans to develop a hazard prediction service were announced today by the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA), following the commissioning of their new supercomputer.

Golden autumn weather

24 May 1999

New Zealand has been experiencing exceptionally settled autumn weather over the last week or so. This is because an unusually strong and persistent anticyclone (high) has given the country very high pressures from 19 May, resulting in "Golden Autumn Weather", with mild daytime temperatures, crisp nights, light winds, hardly any rain and an abundance of sunshine.

Crayfish bounce back in marine reserve

12 May 1999

Recent underwater surveys of the Tonga Island Marine Reserve are revealing the benefits of marine protection.

No smolt release or catch in local rivers by Glenariffe Salmon Farm

29 April 1999

An agreement in principle has been reached for the sale of the Glenariffe Salmon Hatchery currently owned by NIWA, to Rakaia Salmon Limited. The new company wishes to raise salmon for the market by using the hatchery raceways. Initial concerns by environmental groups over potential capture of young salmon for the farm from the Rakaia River will not be an issue.

New Zealand glacier snow lines highest on record

26 April 1999

New Zealand’s glacier snow lines at the end of summer were among the highest on record, with the majority of the country's significant glaciers having lost all of last year’s winter snow.

Nobel laureate visits New Zealand - professor Paul Crutzen

21 April 1999

The Ozone Hole in the stratosphere above Antarctica affects our lifestyles, our climate, and our environment. It represents one of nature’s most dramatic responses to air pollution arising from human activities of the 20th century. NIWA has an active atmospheric research programme measuring ozone at Lauder in Central Otago and at Arrival Heights in Antarctica.

La Niña continues – winter drier in Central Otago, above normal rain in east of North Island and Canterbury

21 April 1999

Climate observations and predictions point to La Niña weather conditions continuing over New Zealand during winter according to NIWA senior climate scientist Dr Jim Salinger.

Nobel prize winner to visit NZ

14 April 1999

Nobel Laureate Paul J. Crutzen, winner of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1995, will visit New Zealand later this month under the Science and Technology Agreement between New Zealand and the Federal Republic of Germany.

National climate centre - new initiative by NIWA

14 April 1999

The establishment of a National Climate Centre for Monitoring and Prediction to become fully operational by early July was announced today by NIWA (the National Institute for Water and Atmospheric Research).

NIWA buys supercomputer - major leap forward in environmental science

7 April 1999

NIWA (the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research) today announced its intention to purchase a multi-million dollar super computer which will allow New Zealand environmental scientists to develop new research initiatives at the forefront of global oceanic, atmospheric and climate science.

Numbers of fish increase in Kapiti Marine Reserve

3 March 1999

The abundance and sizes of fish within the Kapiti Marine Reserve have impressed research divers who have just completed a survey to assess how well the marine environment has recovered since it was protected in 1992.

NIWA-led multinational research team achieves breakthrough in climate research

26 February 1999

Internationally significant new evidence of the vital role in global climate change played by the Southern Ocean has been assembled by a multi-national New Zealand-led research team during a 30-day scientific expedition into Antarctic waters, 2500 miles southwest of New Zealand.

Dr Rob Murdoch, Regional Manager of the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) said today in a message from NIWA’s research vessel Tangaroa that the studies had been extremely successful and "scientists are excited by the preliminary results.

French-NZ science collaboration covers eels, albatrosses and submarine landslides

26 February 1999

French researchers are now, or soon to be, closely involved in a range of New Zealand environmental and marine studies taking in such diverse activities as migratory problems of fish including eels, the foraging habits of royal albatross in southern oceans, and the potential tsunami impact of undersea landslides.

NZ Antarctic voyage to pursue causes of climate change - ocean plant deficiency targeted

30 January 1999

NIWA's research vessel Tangaroa sails from Wellington tomorrow [Sunday, 31 January] on a month-long million-dollar, multi-national scientific expedition that will take her 2000 miles southwest of New Zealand into the Southern Ocean around Antarctica.

1998 global temperature - the highest by a wide margin

28 January 1999

The earth’s temperature in 1998 was easily the highest in the global record reaching back to 1860. The final confirmed global mean temperature was 0.56°C above the recent long-term average based on the period 1961-1990. The previous warmest year globally, 1997, was 0.43°C warmer than average.

UV warning

17 December 1998

"The public should be aware that the UV radiation over New Zealand, particularly in the north of the country, will be particularly high over the next few days under clear sky conditions", said National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) scientist Paul Johnston.

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